Stuff!

So that was Gamesday then. As ever it was an enjoyable and, as I was sitting at a signing table between Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill, somewhat humbling experience. I got to see the newly released Bane of Malekith but during the chaos of departure yet again forgot to pick up an author copy. Never mind. I’ll do that at the upcoming Weekender.

It was a pleasure to meet and chat with readers. It was also a pleasure to be able to catch up with Black Library writing and editing folks I’ve known for a long time and meet other folks for the first time. As always I was sorry not to have more time to take a look around the hall and see all the amazing stuff that’s always there. It’s the eternal problem of going to cons as a pro– you never get to see or do half the stuff you did as a fan.

On my way to Gamesday I managed to drop and break my old second generation Kindle while going through security at Amsterdam airport. Bummer. I’ve had that old machine for over 4 years and it served me well. Unfortunately, since being dropped, a triangle cut out of the top half of the screen shows a few lines of what I was reading at the time– Blood Rites by Jim Butcher–and the rest of the screen shows a static haze.

On the way back to Prague, I bought one of the new generation of Kindle Wireless for the princely sum of £68 in Birmingham Airport duty free. It’s one of the clearest examples of the march of technology I have ever seen. My original Kindle cost me around £250 which admittedly included shipping and import duties from the United States. Even without those though it would have cost almost three times the price of my new Kindle. The new machine is two thirds of the weight, much more compact and has a slightly larger screen. Not only that the screen resolution is much better and battery life much longer. I think there’s more than just Moore’s Law in evidence here. There are advances in e-ink screen technology to take into account as well.

I switched on the machine when I got home and within a few minutes I had my books downloading onto it. No muss, no fuss, all clean and tidy. Another neat thing about modern tech is you don’t need to spend hours charging it before you can do anything. I switched on the Kindle on Monday and its still running now two days later without having been charged yet. Kids today probably don’t even realise how impressive that is to old timers like me. Even while my Kindle was broken I got to read my books on the my phone using the Android app. It was a pretty clear demonstration of the advantages of modern technology.

During the trip, I did not have much time or access to the Internet so my apologies to anybody waiting for a reply or to have their comments approved. I should also mention that I have a review of the very wonderful Crypts and Things over at BlackGate.com. If you feel the need to read any more of my ramblings at the present moment, you should probably mosey over there and check it out.